I went from the Seattle to DESRON 8 staff in Mayport, FL as the Asst. Ops from '84 to '86. Then I went to the University of Virginia to teach Naval ROTC for my twilight tour. I retired in '89 and went to work for Sperry Marine. After 20 years there I somehow ended up with throat cancer and had two series of radiation treatments, chemo and two operations. I was medically retired in 2010. I now cannot speak and must breathe through a hole in my neck. It hasn't slowed me down any though. I putz around the house, play golf and volunteer one day a week at the University of Virginia ENT clinic helping other laryngectomees deal with their new found life as a neck breather. Life is good!

We were in the Indian Ocean for an extended period. The CO decided to have a Super Saturday with all kinds of contests and sporting events. I was watching the wrestling event. They got to the final weight class, unlimited, and this huge BT3 wanted to wrestle but he had no oponent. He came over to me and said, "Come on Chief, lets wrestle." I declined. He said, "What's the matter, Chief. Are you chicken shit or something?" Well, half the chiefs mess and half the wardroom were watching. I rolled my eyes and said "Okay, lets wrestle." Well it turned out he didn't know anything about wrestling. I was captain of my wrestling team in high school. I proceeded to whip up on him in a very bad way. I was doing body slams with him. It wasn't pretty.

Anyway, at the end of the day, the CO was at the mic on the flight deck handing out trophys. He got to the wrestlers and finally to the unlimited class. He called me up to receive my trophy. As I got there, he placed his arm around my shoulders and addressed the crew saying "Men, I want you all to meet your new Chief Master at Arms."

Needless to say, I was stunned. It's funny though, as the CMAA I never had any trouble from any of the crew. ;)